Keeping 2 Males and 1 Female Ornate - Possible?

[litigator666]

Can you keep 2 males and 1 female ornate on the same tank? Would there be aggression on the males? I have a dominant big bulky male and planning to add a male which is about half it’s size. Tank is 8x2x2ft with a pair of stingray and some syno swiming around. Don’t want to waste money if they’ll end up fighting all the time.

 

[Dr.B]

Bichirs really from what i've seen aren't aggressive with each other. Unless you have the smaller babies that are still developing and are susceptible to losing limbs in a fight fighting really isn't a problem. But it does depend on what size your ornates are if you have a 2 footer and you are adding a 1 footer you'll be fine but if you have a 1 footer and you are adding a 6 incher theres a problem. What size are your ornates? Assuming you can sex them they must be at least 12 inches long and with a male half the size of your other male a least a 17 or 18 male and female? and a 8-9 inch male?

 

[Dr.B]

I would try not to buy the smaller male if you have already bought him i would try and put him some where else (in another tank, small divider) until he gets serious girth or he gets to about 10 or so inches.

 

[litigator666]

Dominant male I have is close to 24" and my original female is about 20" (male is about double the size of the female's girth). I have seen the prospective 3rd bichir and it's around 14-16" likely male and slim (half girth as my female). I'm still working out something with the seller and have an available 6x2.5x2ft tank ready in case something goes wrong. Hopefully the trio - MMF works well as it's hard to get an ornate in OZ. I'm not into breeding and just happy to see them swimming around, but if I have a breeding dance (previous owner of the dominant male was able to breed these before losing her female) that will be a plus factor for me. Moneywise, a bit of saving up as they are not cheap.